Physiological Demands of Extreme Obstacle Course Racing: A Case Study.

Timothy Baghurst,Steven L Prewitt,Tyler Tapps

doi:10.3390/ijerph16162879

Abstract

Obstacle course races are a popular source of recreation in the United States, providing additional challenges over traditional endurance events. Despite their popularity, very little is known about the physiological or cognitive demands of obstacle course races compared to traditional road races. The purpose of this study was to investigate the physiological effects of participation in an extreme obstacle course race. The participant was a 38-year-old Caucasian male, who completed an extreme obstacle course race over a 24-h period. Exercise intensity, steps taken, energy expenditure, and heart rate were recorded over the event’s duration using an Actigraph Link GT9X-BT accelerometer and a Polar heart rate monitor. Results reflected the unique nature of obstacle course racing when compared to traditional endurance events, with ups-and-downs recorded in each variable due to the encountering of obstacles. This case study provides a glimpse into the physiological demands of obstacle course racing, and suggests that the cognitive demands placed on competitors may differ to traditional endurance events, due to the challenges of obstacles interspersed throughout the event. With the popularity of obstacle course racing, and to enhance training opportunities, improve performance, and decrease the incidence of injuries, future research should further investigate the physiological and cognitive demands of obstacle course races of various distances and among diverse populations.

Highlights

IntroductionThis gradual reduction in participation may be in part due to non-traditional events [1], such as obstacle course racing (OCR) which emerged in 2009, and has grown quickly
According to Running USA [1], there were just over million road race participants in 2018, which is a number that has slowly but steadily declined from a record million participants in2013
This gradual reduction in participation may be in part due to non-traditional events [1], such as obstacle course racing (OCR) which emerged in 2009, and has grown quickly

Summary

Introduction

This gradual reduction in participation may be in part due to non-traditional events [1], such as obstacle course racing (OCR) which emerged in 2009, and has grown quickly. Just as with traditional road races, OCR provides events for athletes of varying levels, with distances from three miles to multi-day competitions covering upwards of 100 miles [2]. The number of participants in OCR events by year is unclear; Nikolova [5] estimated approximately 500,000 annually in the United States. Distances for OCR events vary, and while most participants engage in short races of less than five miles, approximately 50,000 participants engage in events longer than 10 miles.

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Discussion

Conclusion